Wesley (22 page)

Wes’ heart swelled with pride for his mate. Armando was handsome and kind-hearted, and a man who believed in righting his wrongs. “I am so proud of you.”

Armando cast a glance at Wes. “What am I, five? You my daddy?” While his words might have been harsh, he said them lightly and with a teasing smile that made Wes want to hug him.

“I can be your daddy if you want to play that game,” he said as quietly as he could. He’d rather not have Sully giving him shit over that.

Armando stumbled on the last step and Wes was able to keep him from falling. He was a little smug at having had such an effect on Armando, but gloating would have to wait for another time. Or he could just jump Armando’s sexy body the first chance he got.

Wes didn’t want to crowd Armando, so he moved to stand beside him rather than behind him. Armando leaned into him for a second then he raised his chin and addressed Sully. “I’ve been angry for a long time, at you, at Bobby,” Armando nodded towards the wolf shifter. “I know it was wrong, but I didn’t know how to let go of it. I blamed you because I thought—” Armando groaned and covered his face with his hands. “This is so embarrassing!”

“Hey,” Sully said, coming closer. When Wes nodded, Sully gently touched Armando’s shoulder. “You don’t have to explain. Seriously. All I’ve wanted—all we’ve wanted, me and Bobby—is for you to be happy. And you can say I did nothing wrong, but I’m going to disagree. I should have been more perceptive and less self-centred. You aren’t the only person I hurt by keeping me and Bobby in our own little cocoon.”

“I can understand getting lost in your life with your mate,” Wes informed his brother. “All I want to do is take Armando back upstairs and not come out until we’re old men.”

“We have to help Sue and Dyan,” Armando said from between his fingers. He lowered his hands and held one out to Sully. “I screwed up, too. I put all my secret hopes on your shoulders. That was wrong.”

Sully took his hand and clasped it, but didn’t shake. “It wasn’t wrong. It was naïve, maybe, but never wrong.” Finally he pumped Armando’s hand. “I hope we can be friends again someday.”

“I think that is a possibility,” Armando responded, a teasing lilt to his voice. He canted a look at Bobby. “Although I don’t know about him. He seems kind of standoffish.”

Bobby guffawed and strolled over, his heels dragging on occasion and stirring up dirt. “Yeah, I’m about as standoffish as a politician at a fundraiser.”

“So not at all,” Armando deduced. “Got it.” He shook Bobby’s hand and in short order Wes found himself explaining to Sully and Bobby what was going on. When he brought up Cliff, Bobby scowled so thoroughly that Wes halfway expected his thunderous expression to produce rain over the parched land.

“The guy could tip the cops off,” Bobby grumbled when Sully asked him what his problem was. “Think about it, hun. He knows what they look like, where they’re goin’, and he has to know they’d be goin’ soon. He practically set ‘em up to be caught.”

“We don’t have any choice,” Armando said. “If we don’t go, Sue will go without us. She’s not the kind of person you can order around. She loves Dyan, and just like we wouldn’t want our mates to come to harm, Sue wouldn’t allow Dyan to be harmed, either.”

Wes had another of those warm gooey inside moments as he beamed down at Armando. “You don’t want me to get hurt? You’re so sweet.”

“I’m about to stomp on your toes, buddy,” Armando warned. “Sweet, my ass.”

“Please don’t confirm or deny that,” Sully offered swiftly, holding up his hands. “I don’t want to know about y’all’s sex life. Ick.”

“You can tell me,” Bobby said with a leer. “I’ll use it to keep Sully in line. Ooph!” Bobby rubbed his stomach as he scooted away from Sully. “That almost hurt for real.”

“I held back because I love you,” Sully crooned. Then he asked Wes, “You know y’all are breaking the law, several laws?”

‘Duh’ was on the tip of Wes’ tongue but he manfully bit it back. “Yes, we know, but are those laws more important than two girls’ health? Than their lives?”

“Criminals always manage to justify their crimes.” Bobby stepped back when everyone glared at him. “What? Why y’all givin’ me such dirty looks? I’ve broken more than a few laws myself, and I think I was right to do so.”

Human laws
, Wes thought, certain that Armando too was going there. Bobby had killed the shifter who’d attacked Armando, and dispensed justice as was his right. At least, it was his right in the shifter world.

“We could help if you wanted us to,” Sully offered.

Wes shook his head so hard he was surprised his neck didn’t snap. “No, we can do this, but thanks. It’ll be an easy,” God, he hoped, “in and out. Hopefully no cops will be called, and we’ll have Dyan home by late tonight.”

Sully didn’t seem happy with the rejection but he didn’t argue. “Okay, but if you change your mind and need help, or just want us to look over the plans, the blueprints, whatever. A different perspective never hurts.”

“I guess that wouldn’t hurt,” Armando said.

They—or Sully, at least—did seem to want to help awfully bad, and Wes figured Armando was right. “Okay, but the stuff is on my laptop, and we’re taking it with us. And we’re already late. I’ll email you everything.”

“Okay.” Sully surprised him with a quick hug. “Be careful.”

They took Wes’ car to work, leaving Armando’s smaller one behind. Wes hadn’t been sure he’d even fit in it despite Armando’s assurances otherwise. As soon as they walked in to the shelter, wolf-whistles and cat-calls greeted them, along with some ribald teasing about them coming to work together. Most of the kids at the shelter were less intimidated by adults and the lines others usually respected between them. Wes had got used to it already, for the most part, but when he caught one boy eying Armando’s butt he couldn’t quite hold back a scowl.

Sue, her face even more colourful than it had been yesterday, greeted them in the hall by the conference room. She had a backpack slung over one shoulder and her hair tucked up under a ball cap. A large pair of sunglasses was clipped to the neck of her T-shirt. Dressed from head to toe in black, she looked like a burglar wannabe or a typical teenager, Wes decided.

“When do we leave?” she asked.

Armando took her by the elbow and steered her into the conference room. “Where’s Alisa?”

Sue plopped down in a chair and put her pack on her lap as she answered. “She’s making fresh coffee. Said we’d need it for working out the kinks of whatever plan you two came up with.”

“Then I’d think you’d know we weren’t leaving just yet,” Armando scolded her gently. Wes admired the way Armando dealt with Sue over the next few minutes, his patience and compassion obvious as he listened to the young woman talk about how difficult it was to wait.

“I couldn’t sleep last night, Armando. The doctor gave me sleeping pills, but I’ll never take anything like that. They can be addictive, and mess with your head.” Sue added a firm nod as if she were every bit the drug expert.

Wes knew she was right. He’d taken more than a few prescription sleeping pills himself. One day he hoped to be brave enough to share his mistakes and the reasons behind them with others, and maybe help them to avoid screwing up. It was the first spark of interest in a career Wes had ever had, and he made a mental note to see what he’d need to do to pursue it. Armando was sneaking inquisitive looks at him and Wes winked in return as Alisa handed him a hot cup of coffee, too.

“Does anyone honestly think the police would be called in if we snatch Dyan?” Alisa asked, voicing a question Wes felt fairly certain he had the correct answer to.

“I don’t think so, but there’s some concern about this guy Cliff, or whatever his name really is.”

Alisa and Sue both started asking questions so he held up a hand. “Hang on, I’ll explain. We were researching the place…”

Armando was enamoured of Wes, more so by the minute now that he’d let go of some of the past. He’d seen the twinkle in Wes’ eyes and felt a surge of interest coming from Wes that had surprised him. Once he’d concluded their mental link was flickering between them, he’d understood that Wes was excited about possibly finding something he wanted to do with his life, career-wise. Armando was glad and doubly so because he could still feel that link between them. It was incredible and made him want to sneak off alone with Wes for a while, but he was man enough to control his urges.

Wes’ cheeks had the faint bloom of a blush on them when he glanced at Armando. Obviously he was catching on to Armando’s thoughts, too.

“If you two could stop making cow eyes at each other for a few minutes, please.”

Armando flipped Alisa off. “Jealous.”

Alisa rolled her eyes. “Not even. Y’all are just nauseatingly sweet, but that phase will pass.”

Sue harrumphed and disagreed. “Dyan and I have been together since we were fourteen. We still get all mushy over each other.” As soon as she said that, tears spilled down her cheeks. “God, I miss her.”

“Oh, sugar,” Armando murmured, getting up to put his arms around Sue gently and hold her as she sobbed. “We’ll get Dyan back, and everything will be okay.”

“W-what if t-they c-come for her ag-gain?” Sue asked, shaking in his arms. “T-they c-could.”

Armando flushed with anger and a protectiveness he’d not felt before. “We won’t let them near her. We can and will keep y’all safe, even if it means sending the two of you somewhere else.”

“But this is their home,” Alisa protested.

Wes squatted on Sue’s other side and touched her shoulder. “Home is where the person or people you love is, right Sue?”

“Y-yeah. I’d be h-happy anywhere as long as D-Dyan is there.”

Armando was beginning to understand exactly what she meant. He thought he just might be willing to follow Wes anywhere if they spent much more time together.

And they would. That was the way of mates. Once again, he thought that, if Wes weren’t a shifter, if their coming together wasn’t destiny, he wouldn’t have been able to trust it. Not at first, at least. Eventually, Wes might have worn him down, but more than likely, Armando’s anger and fear would have ensured that he lived a very lonely, bitter life.

He was very glad that would no longer be the case.

Wes stood and patted Sue’s shoulder. Armando realised she’d quit sobbing and was probably ready for him to back off. He let go of her and smiled even though seeing her battered face made him want to cry in turn. That anyone could hurt such a wonderful kid… Armando should have been immune to the hateful things people did to kids, but he wasn’t and didn’t think he ever would be.

“Okay, so we have what look like blueprints for the building, and a schedule of their ‘treatments’ and the times those occur,” Wes was saying as he started laying printouts on the table. “We don’t know if these are all accurate, but we have to hope they are. We’ll get to the facility and observe for a while, see what’s what from outside of it. It’s set in a wooded area, we have binoculars, night vision ones, too, so those will help.”

“What if someone called the fire department and claimed the place was burning down?” Sue asked. “I mean, we’re always told to yell ‘Fire’ if someone tries to grab us—which did us no fucking good by the way—because it gets attention. If fire trucks showed up—”

“And nothing was burning, they wouldn’t do anything, I think.” Armando also didn’t trust the crazies running the place not to smuggle people out of the back door or something. He just wanted Dyan
out.

Sue slumped a little in her seat and toyed with her backpack. “Yeah, okay. I just hope they aren’t armed nut jobs in there.”

Armando hoped not too.

Wes tapped one of the printouts. “If all this is right, their only weapons on hand are fists and words.”

“I’ll show them fists,” Sue grumbled. “When do we leave?”

Armando was surprised she’d been as patient as she had. He glanced at the time then at Sue. “Give us an hour, then we’re out of here.”

Chapter Fifteen

Waiting was the hardest part. Wes itched all over with impatience as the sun slowly sank in the sky. They needed it dark before they could go prowling around. And now he was wishing he’d asked Bobby to come in his wolf form. Sully could have, but a leopard would really stick out if he was accidentally spotted, whereas a wolf wasn’t uncommon in the area.

“I feel like a whiny kid, but how much longer?” Sue asked.

“As soon as it’s dark,” Armando answered. “Another half-hour, maybe. How do I look?”